Quantum ergodicity on graphs: from spectral to spatial delocalization

DOI10.4007/ANNALS.2019.189.3.3MaRDI QIDQ2320600zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Nalini Anantharaman, Mostafa Sabri

Publication date 23 August 2019

Published in Annals of Mathematics. Second Series (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1704.02766

zbMATH Keywords

delocalization large graphs quantum ergodicity

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Relations between spectral theory and ergodic theory, e.g., quantum unique ergodicity (58J51)

Abstract: We prove a quantum-ergodicity theorem on large graphs, for eigenfunctions of Schr"odinger operators in a very general setting. We consider a sequence of finite graphs endowed with discrete Schr"odinger operators, assumed to have a local weak limit. We assume that our graphs have few short loops, in other words that the limit model is a random rooted tree endowed with a random discrete Schr"odinger operator. We show that absolutely continuous spectrum for the infinite model, reinforced by a good control of the moments of the Green function, imply "quantum ergodicity", a form of spatial delocalization for eigenfunctions of the finite graphs approximating the tree. This roughly says that the eigenfunctions become equidistributed in phase space. Our result applies in particular to graphs converging to the Anderson model on a regular tree, in the r'egime of extended states studied by Klein and Aizenman-Warzel.

Review text

Let \(G=(V,E)\) be a finite graph. Fix an interval \(I\subset\mathbb{R}\). The authors examine the extent to which the eigenfunctions of the adjacency matrix are localized or delocalized. One says that one has spectral delocalication if there is purely absolutely continuous spectrum in \(I\). The authors consider a sequence of finite graphs which have discrete Schrödinger operators which have a local weak limit model which is a random rooted tree which has a random discrete Schrödinger model and study when quantum ergodicity pertains; this is a form of spatial delocalization of the eigenvalues of the finite graphs which aproximate the weak model. Roughly speaking, this implies that the eigenfunctions become equi-distributed in phase space. The results of the paper apply to graphs which converge to the Anderson model of a regular tree. The main result of the paper can be roughly stated as follows: ``If a large finite system is close in the Benjamini-Schramm topology to an infinite system having a purely absolutely continuous spectrum in an interval I, then the eigenfunctions with eigenvalues lying in I of the finite system satisfy quantum ergodicity. Section 1 is an introduction to the subject. Section 2 provides some basic identities. Section 3 discusses the non-backtracking quantum variance. Section 4 provides a bound on the non-backtracking quantum variance. Section 5 presents an invariance property of the quantum variance. Section 6 involves a stationary Markov chain. Section 7 deals with the spectral gap and mixing. Section 8 treats transition matrices with phases. Section 9 uses these results to establish one of the results of the paper. In Section 10, one returns to the original eigenfunctions by showing it suffices to consider the non-backtracking quantum variance to prove quantum ergodicity. In Appendix A, basic facts concerning the Benjamini-Schramm topology are given.

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